10 White Roses
by SniperKitty
Summary: Right now its G-rated and general, it will get angsty later. Its NejiHina, flame away if you don't like white-eyed incest, kiddies. Before Neji discovers the truth of his father's death.
1. I thought I could make a difference

Through the hallway, down the stairs, out the door.  
  
1,2,3...  
  
Past the swing, past the shops, past the gates.  
  
4,5,6...  
  
Past the trees, over the dirt, through the bushes.  
  
7,8,9...  
  
Here.  
  
10.  
  
**********  
  
It was mid-day, but one would have never been able to tell. The sky was a mass of pure gray, painting the usually colorful Konoha with undertones of melancholic colorlessness. The village looked so.. unhappy.  
  
-Kind of like.. my eyes..  
  
Hinata made her way through the village, on an errand. It was the death day of Neji's father, she had been able to gather this with the help of her underdeveloped Byakugan, and a bit of uncharacteristic snooping on her part.  
  
She felt bad for Neji, pitied him even, and wanted to make a small gesture, even if it went entirely unnoticed. She felt it was the least she could do.  
  
She arrived at the small flower shop. Ino was working there.  
  
"Hey Hinata! Don't see you around here much!" Ino said cheerfully. She always tried her best to be nice to the shy Hyuuga girl.  
  
"H-hello, Ino-san." Hinata said quietly. She knew she should have said something more, maybe start a conversation. But she couldn't even make eyecontact with the other.  
  
She looked around, making as little noise as possible. She felt like everyone was watching her, and she tried to make herself invisible and inaudiable.  
  
"Are you looking for anything particular? A certain occasion maybe? Some flowers are used especially for some things." Ino said, coming out from behind the counter to help her customer.  
  
"U-um.. I'm looking for something to.. pay respects." Ino had to cup her hand to her ear to hear the white eyed girl.  
  
"Pay respects? You mean to someone who has passed away?" Hinata nodded shyly.  
  
"Oh I'm sorry Hinata-chan, was it someone close to you?" Hinata shook her head.  
  
"N..no, they... have been gone awhile." She was almost inaudiable.  
  
Ino sighed, she just didn't understand why people were shy.  
  
"How much are you looking to spend?"  
  
"I have.. plenty of money, Ino-san." Hinata whispered.  
  
"Alright then!" She headed over to some white roses and picked out ten, then some more flowers to ornament and accent. For some reason, all of the flowers were white. She just couldn't find herself choosing any color for the Hyuuga girl. It must have been her eyes.  
  
"Here you go Hinata, how does this look?" Ino smiled.  
  
"A-arigato.. Ino-san." Ino took the flowers and wrapped the stems together, then rang up the cash register. Hinata payed, took the flowers with a small bow, and headed off.  
  
She was approaching a small stone of memorials made solely for Hyuuga family members. She was unhappy to see Neji already standing there.  
  
The cold boy saw Hinata approaching, though his back was turned. He grit his teeth, but said nothing.  
  
She too said nothing, but walked up beside him, still keeping a good distance from him, and knelt, placing the flowers upon the small altar-like stone.  
  
"No one in the main house has died on this day." He snorted.  
  
"..H-hai.." Hinata said quietly.  
  
"THen what are those for, Hinata-sama?" Neji's voice was caustic but restrained. He said her name with mild mockery, and it stung.  
  
"..Hyuuga Hizashi." She said, almost silently.  
  
Neji scowled deeply, and he said nothing.  
  
Hinata put her hands together and said a quiet prayer for Hizashi-san's soul.  
  
"..Why..?" Neji growled, his fists clenched. Even Hinata, who was not very in tune with her nin skills, could feel his chakra going absolutely berserk.  
  
"B-because... He did.. an adimrable thing..." -Kind of like Naruto-kun, she added mentally.  
  
Neji's chakra softened, but his fists remained clenched. There was silence between the two white-eyed children, both lost and cold in their own ways.  
  
More footsteps. The two both saw Hyuuga Hiyashi, Hinata's father, approaching. Hinata suddenly wanted to run. She swallowed hard, stood shakily.  
  
"E-excuse me.. I need to be go-"  
  
"Hinata. What are you doing here?"  
  
"P-paying my respects, Otou-sama..."   
  
Hiyashi wanted to lash out at his daughter, say something or do something to hurt her. Hinata had always been the greatest source of dissapointment in his life. When his wife had brought her into the world, it had been the happiest day of his life. She had been so perfect, so promising to become a great member of the Hyuuga house.  
  
But all of his dreams had come tumbling down. Certainly, Hanabi had revived those thoughts, she was very promising. But... The sheer anger, the displeasure, the weakness of his firstborn still enraged him.  
  
Now was not the time for such thoughts. He had come here to remember his brother.  
  
He put a hand on Neji's shoulder. The child was still so stoic, so good at hiding his greif.  
  
Neji jerked away as politely as possible.  
  
Hinata left carefully, cautiously, slowly, as though her father were some volatile chemical, and if one moved too much or was too loud around it, it would explode.  
  
She headed into the woods, to a small clearing with some training instruments, to think.  
  
Hiyashi opened his mouth to say something, but Neji really didn't want to hear it. He began walking away swiftly, before the other would speak. He headed towards his training area, he needed to let off some steam.  
  
He saw Hinata huddled beside one of the logs, knees pulled to her chest and arms around her legs, forehead resting on her knees.  
  
A pang of something.. sympathy, maybe, went through his heart, but only for a second. It was replaced but his anger and sorrow.  
  
"Hinata-sama."  
  
Her head snapped up. "Neji-niisan.."  
  
"Fight me."  
  
************************  
  
^-^ Hehehehe  
  
Humm I dunno Hinata and Neji are such complex characters, they are difficult to portray =/...   
  
Im not sure how far this will go.. maybe I won't even make it ROMANCE. If you think I should, say so! Hell, I'm up for anything. They can become friends, or I can make it a lemon. OR, hey, I can have Neji kill Hinata -_-;. ^_^; Just tell me what you think!  
  
Read and Review if you see fit pwease~! 


	2. Uknown feelings

There's another world inside of me that you may never see  
  
There's secrets in this life that I can't hide  
  
But somewhere in this darkness there's a light that I can't find  
  
Or maybe it's too far away...  
  
Or maybe I'm just blind.  
  
************  
  
"Hinata-sama."  
  
Her head snapped up. "Neji-niisan.."  
  
"Fight me."  
  
"W-why?" Hinata asked, startled. She was afraid of fighting her cousin, ever since their last match. Truthfully, she didn't have as much chakra as she once had only because of the critical blow he had delivered to her heart.  
  
"I want to fight you, Hinata-sama." Neji insisted, his voice cold.  
  
Hinata was scared, he looked so angry, and he was so powerful. Even her father was impressed.  
  
"Neji-niisan.. I don't want to.."  
  
"Fight me." He was starting to get angry.  
  
"N-no.." Hinata took a few steps back, but her hands were poised before her defensively.  
  
Veins crawled accross the boy's fair skin and his white eyes grew more piercing.  
  
Hinata's face too was then altered as her byakugan took effect. She had to stay on guard, as much as she didn't want to fight.  
  
Neji threw himself towards her, all of his sorrows and rage focused upon this main branch member.   
  
Hinata focused her chakra to her palms, she would have to block his attacks.  
  
She found herself shocked by the sudden onslaught. This was by no means a simple, friendly training fight. He was fast, and Hinata was scared.  
  
The adrenaline rush helped, but it wasn't a pleasant feeling. She moved quickly, blocking and dodging. She had improved a little, they both acknowledged. Hinata would have been happy with herself if she wasn't so busy worrying.  
  
-Left, right. Another right! Left, right, left, left, ri- no! left!  
  
The sound of their chakra-ridden palms colliding was deafening. Had they not been so deep in the woods, everyone would have heard. The fight would have been broken up.  
  
Neji was aggrivated. She really had improved significantly. He couldn't land a hit.  
  
But then, Hinata faltered, for whatever reason. Neji's palm contacted her right shoulder. She stumbled back, hitting against a tree, and he stumbled forward with her, all his momentum leaned into her.  
  
They found themselves pressed tightly against eachother, Hinata's shoulder aching.  
  
Neji's eyes widened, as did Hinata's.  
  
"Neji-niisan, that hurt..."  
  
Neji grunted and pushed off of the tree.  
  
"You're weak." He growled, but he wasn't thinking that. He turned and ran. Hinata stared after, confused and in pain.   
  
She grunted as she pulled herself off the tree, clutching her shoulder. She was lucky he had only hit her there. She was also happy to find he had missed direct contact with her tenketsu. She sighed in relief and began struggling homeward.  
  
****  
  
Neji walked down the long, lonely road, hands shoved in his pockets, which was uncharacteristic of him. He was staring at the ground, at his feet.  
  
-What.. What the hell was that.?  
  
He had been able to feel every curve of Hinata beneath the bulky sweater she always wore. That didn't bother him. What bothered him was.. he had paused to notice every curve, to remember it and know it... He had actually payed attention to such a thing.  
  
-I... What... What the hell?  
  
Neji found his thoughts distorted and unclear for the first time in awhile.  
  
He clenched his fists.  
  
****  
  
Hinata was tending to her shoulder with some balm, sitting beneath the tree outside of the Academy. It was still dreary and gray. She heard voices and glanced over. Had she not been sitting right where she was, she could not have seen Sasuke and Naruto behind a corner of the academy.  
  
They were bickering, as always. But there was something different.. She observed carefully.  
  
"Damnit! You're always such an arrogant asshole! Stop being such a bitch to me!"  
  
"You're just an idiot, you're not worth my time, dobe. Stop acting like you are."  
  
Naruto punched him accross the face, but it was not hard, in fact, it was half-hearted.  
  
"You said I was..." Were there tears in the blonde's eyes?  
  
Hinata was surprised to see Sasuke's expression soften. She was even more surprised to see the dark-haired shinobi cup Naruto's chin in his fingers.  
  
"I'm sorry, dobe... Shh.." His voice was so gentle, so unlike the Uchiha boy.  
  
Hinata's eyes widened when she saw their lips meet. What on earth was going on??  
  
-Maybe Neji's attack affected me more than I thought...  
  
*************  
  
Sorry for the short and positive randomness of this chapter.. I really HAD to include the SasuNaru T_T; forgive me, its my favorite pairing...  
  
Ill write more! I promise! 


	3. Why am I weak?

I wanted to be just like you, so perfect, so untouchable.  
  
*******  
  
Hinata curled up beneath very tree Neji had pinned her to during their fight earlier today. She didn't want to go home, and she doubted anyone would care whether or not she did anyway.She let out a soft sigh and cuddled back into the rough bark of the tree. At least it would comfort her when she was sad. She looked through its branches up at the stary sky, and patches of the moon. She reached up her hand, letting her soft skin be set aglow with the pale light the celestial body reflected down upon her. It was so soft, and white, but.. cold and sad at the same time.  
  
-Kind of like... my eyes.  
  
She decided it was time to go home. She was feeling a bit more sad, a bit more unsure than usual, but she just wasn't sure why. She got up and headed down the long, moonlit road to the Hyuuga manor, but not before pausing to look at the moon, unobscured by the branches of trees, in all its gothic glory.  
  
"Rest in peace, Hizashi-san. I hope you are in a good place now."  
  
In the presence of the loving tree and the uncaring lunar sentinel, she needn't stutter. They were too great to judge someone like her.  
  
*********  
  
The door opened slowly, and Hinata peered in before entering. At the sight of her father, she made to close the door and wait until he had left, to avoid confrontation with him.  
  
"Hinata."  
  
She cringed at the sound of her name and came in slowly, cautiously, as she always was around the volatile Hiyashi, her father. She looked into his eyes only for a second, before shoving her gaze to her toes. The intensity, it was like a blazing inferno of white-hot everything, threatening to tear out the very depths of her soul and set them afire with pain and misery. So she glued her eyes downward, as was characteristic of the quiet child.  
  
Hiyashi scowled at the obvious weakness, the fear. Then he sighed.  
  
"Nevermind, get out of my sight."  
  
Hinata obeyed very willingly, and was soon locked in her room. She let out a sigh. She was glad to be far, far away from her father, but... she hated being all alone like this, and she was always alone, one would think she'd get used to it.  
  
'Why am I weak?'  
  
She lay in bed, in a thin-strapped whit shirt and powder blue, baggy silk pants. Even her night clothes were conservative.  
  
'Why am I so shy? Why don't I have any confidence??'  
  
Hinata gripped her sheets tightly. Her eyes stung with threatening tears.  
  
'Why am I crying!?'  
  
She stood up angrily and stared at herself in the mirror, tears coursing down cheeks with veins crawling accross them, centralizing to eyes that were now viciously piercing through the mirror. They hurt to look at, even though they were her own.   
  
"Why!? Why am I like this!? Why can't I be like Naruto-kun!? Hanabi nii-chan?! Neji-sama!!"  
  
She took herself by surprise at the last name on her list, and found a palm with torrential chakra swarming around it protruding from the wooden back of her mirror. Her hand was splintered and cut, and glass lay about her. She jerked her hand out and headed out her opened window. A two story jump was really nothing, even for a weak shinobi like herself. It had beun to rain now. As she ran, the drizzle shifted into a downpour with a crack of thunder and flash of lightning. Her bare feet made a slopping noise on the muddy road, her white shirt clung to her flesh, her nipples barely visible through the wet fabric.  
  
She was freezing, her hand hurt, her feet hurt, but she finally made it back to the training ground. The sound of chakra contacting one of the targets was comparable to that of a sonic boom, but she knew the sound was misleading, it was weak. Her emotions were probably sparking her chakra a little, but not much. After what must have been a good two hours, her muscles ached and her hand was bruised and bleeding. She hadn't bothered removing glass shards from it, and now it was really painful. She sunk down against the tree she had only left a few hours ago and groaned. Her hand hurt, the boy she had adored for so long was in love with another boy, her family hated her and she was a pathetic individual with nothing going for her. What else was new? She stood shakily and began walking back towards the village. Her feet were cut from running barefooted. She realized she was still in her pajamas, how stupid of her. But she didn't care. It was probably around 1 or 2 in the morning now, no one would be out anyway.  
  
*******  
  
Neji walked down the long, lonely road, heading back towards the village. He was soaked to the bone, and he had dark circles under his eyes. He had been training ferociously, letting out his confusion and frustration on the targets. His palms were actually bruised, even through his bandages. He sighed. He needed to get stronger. He was in the village soon, he looked up for the first time in awhile, Through the blinding downpour, he saw a figure wearing white and soft blue, sitting on the small swing beneath the tree near the academy. The person looked very unhappy...  
  
*********************  
  
Will get to working on the next chapter right now, kiddies n.n- Hope you like.. I ought to play with Neji some more too but I like Hinata better u.u;;... 


End file.
